San Bernardino County, CA, Biographies
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
GEORGE M. SKINNER,
was born in Easton, Massachusetts, in 1833, son of Harrison G. O. Skinner, a
native of Massachusetts, and now a resident of Riverside. His mother, Betsey
Holmes, was also a native of Massachusetts. Mr. Skinner was reared and schooled
in his native place, and given the advantage of a common-school education until
seventeen years of age. He then located in Brockton, Massachusetts, working in
the boot and shoe manufactories until 1863. In that year he responded to the
call of his country for troops, and enlisted in Company F, Fifty-Eighth
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. His attention to duty and soldierly bearing
was soon recognized, and he was promoted to be Sergeant. Mr. Skinner served
gallantly throughout the war, and was not discharged from the service until
August, 1865. During his service he participated in some of the most arduous
campaigns and the hardest-fought battles that are chronicled in our history. His
regiment was attached to the Ninth Army Corps, under the command of General
Burnside, in the Army of the Potomac. He was engaged in the battles of the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, South Anna, Cold Harbor, and the siege of
Petersburg, mine explosion in front of Petersburg. He was wounded and compelled
to leave the field, and did not return to duty until the fall of 1864: from that
time he was actively engaged in the siege until the spring of 1865. His
regiment was a portion of those troops detailed to capture Fort Mahone: in that
charge Mr. Skinner was again wounded and taken prisoner by the Confederate
troops, and was held a prisoner until the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox.
After his discharge from the service he returned to Brockton and resumed his
work in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and later established himself in
business. In 1879 the subject of this sketch came to California and located in
Riverside. In February of that year he purchased a ten-acre tract on Brockton
avenue in Brockton Square, about two miles south of Riverside, and has since
devoted himself to horticultural pursuits. This place was at the time of his
purchase partially improved, but he has made many improvements in tree planting,
taking up deciduous trees and replacing them with orange trees.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties
of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower
California� Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 646
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler